Henry Miller: Important archive of letters

MILLER, Henry. Eleven autograph letters signed and two postcards signed; all written to Maurice Girodias. WITH: Ten typed carbon copy letters from Girodias to Miller and five copies (four in carbon) of letters from Girodias, Claude Gallimard, E.C. Brun-Munk, William Burroughs, and Frank MacShane recommending Miller for the Nobel Prize. Housed in custom slipcase and chemise. $12,500.

A remarkable and intimate correspondence between Henry Miller and his close friend and publisher, Maurice Girodias. Particularly notable is the inclusion of a series of letters and postcards pertaining to Miller’s campaign to win the Nobel Prize for literature. After Girodias, at Miller’s request, writes a glowing letter to the Nobel Committee (included here in copy) extolling the quality and originality of Miller’s work (“that formidable example of freedom of mind and heart has given its momentum to many writers’ work, to many minds’ opening, to many changes of attitude”), Miller voices his appreciation (“I don’t know how to thank you for that marvelous letter… I hope they take it to heart!”) and begins, with the help of Girodias, to enlist the support of other writers, publishers, and critics. In a series of letters, Miller discusses the individuals they should contact (“Above all, Samuel Beckett and Graham Greene you should include. I didn’t know Greene read me!”), how they should conduct their campaign (“Make sure when you write them that they do not publicize my name!”), mentioning, ultimately, that he has “now written over 125 people here and abroad… [and] nearly all I write are favorably inclined”. Sadly for Miller, the campaign was unsuccessful, with Miller candidly noting in two postcards (with artwork by Miller printed on the front) “I can’t become ‘respectable’ even if it means losing prize” and “I was hoping to get it only for 1979. Happy my favorite writer I.S. [Isaac Singer] got it this year”.

Further letters, dating from June 1973 to September 1978, include Miller exuberantly praising and encouraging the literary efforts of Girodias (“Bravo! You made it, yes indeed. You have a wonderful full, sensuous et sensible touch. I can hardly believe I am reading Maurice Girodias at times. It makes me happy for you. At last you found the way, found yourself. Congratulations!!”), suggesting books to read, and lamenting his lack of financial success (“We are always sailing close to the wind, too close for my taste—especially after all I have had published”).

Several times Miller comments on his deteriorating eyesight (“My sight is very poor now and I have to conserve it”) and, regarding work, notes “I have begun to make W.C.’s [watercolors] again, since I have about written myself out”.

Regarding his advanced years, Miller notes “I have arthritis of the hip. It’s lamed me—and always hurts like the devil. I hope I hadn’t seemed to put on any airs—of authority or what not. I have nothing to do with the elderly—I shun them”, and ultimately concludes, “My spirit is OK but age is taking toll of my body. Nothing to do about it.”

As a whole, the highly important archive, containing such intimate and personal correspondence between two close friends, provides invaluable insights into the last decade of Miller’s life. Occasional marks and smudges; generally in fine condition.

---------------

Maurice Girodias was the founder of the Olympia Press and owner of the Obelisk Press (founded by his father, Jack Kahane). He was the first to publish, among other titles, such controversial twentieth-century classics as Nabokov’s Lolita, Donleavy’s The Ginger Man, Burroughs’s Naked Lunch, and much of Henry Miller’s work. His relationship with Miller extended over forty-five years; at the age of 15, Girodias drew the famous crab image found on the cover of the first edition of Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, and throughout his career he was one of Miller’s most vigorous defenders against charges of obscenity.